Chapter 54 The Peacock and the Dragon
"Let me be on a mission to your heart,
On a journey to your soul,
Let me walk by your side.
Let me be dedicated to your needs,
Silent when you breathe.
Let me be."
The Eastern Sun
Justin Hayward
Yumichika placed a comforting hand on Campion's shoulder.
"We might just have the miracle we need," he said, trying not to sound too foolishly hopeful, for he had no idea exactly what he was dealing with yet. "I'll be right back."
He got to his feet and picked his way through the debris to the opening, which was growing wider and around the edges of which, he could now clearly see a bluish-green haze that appeared to be dissolving the rock and sand.
"Ruri'iro Kujaku?" he asked.
"Yes, it's me." The voice that answered was definitely that of the Azure Peacock, but it contained none of the uncertainty or strange distance that had been present in the cave earlier, when Yiowue had first drawn him out.
No, this sounded like the kujaku of old.
And it was the most reassuring sound Yumichika had heard in decades.
"Who's that with you?" Yumichika asked.
The other party answered. "Who do you think it is? The only one in the whole lot who has any sense at all!"
"Hoozukimaru," Yumichika said, feeling even more relief and hope. "Is Ikkaku with you?"
"Neh, he's waiting for us at another place," the dragon replied.
"Is he safe?"
"Far as I know," came the answer. "Captain Hlayma's with us."
Yumichika felt an added sense of relief at this announcement, and he felt able to turn his attention to the matter at hand. "Ruri'iro Kujaku . . . you regained your powers?"
"Hardly. They're returning, but very slowly," the peacock replied. "Absorbing the spirit particles of these rocks is helping, but it's all seki-seki, so there's not much energy in them. It's going to be a very long time before I have anything resembling my former abilities."
"What about your power to heal?" Yumichika asked anxiously.
The peacock's voice took on an urgency. "Are you injured, master?"
"No, I'm not, but Campion is. He's crushed under these rocks. You have to try and save him," Yumichika insisted.
"I'm not even sure I can save you yet, master," Ruri'iro Kujaku replied.
"I'm not afraid of that," Yumichika said with conviction. "I know you'll get us out of here." A pause. "Where's Yiowue?"
"Buried under a pile of rubble," Ruri'iro answered.
"He got hit by the earthquake, too?"
A familiar, almost snide chuckle came from the other side of the shrinking debris wall.
"No, he got hit by Hoozukimaru," the peacock said gleefully. "Just as he deserved."
()()()()(
When he'd returned from Ruri'iro Kujaku's world into his own, Hoozukimaru had known that he had his work cut out for him. Staring up from the bottomless depths in the peacock cave, he'd felt just how diminished the kujaku had become.
And yet, outside, in Soul Society, he'd felt his existence. Ruri'iro Kujaku's presence manifested itself in ways far beyond mere spirit energy; and Hoozukimaru was well attuned to those inexplicable ways.
Rejoining Captain Hlayma and his party in the outside world, the decision had been an easy one. "I couldn't see him. But I have to follow what I'm sensing. He's—I can feel him. He's out there somewhere, and I know I can find him."
Hlayma regarded him in a moment of consideration. "Go, then. Find him if you can. We'll head for the coast and Madarame."
"No, you should come with me," Hoozukimaru insisted. "The fact that I sense Ruri'iro Kujaku's presence again might mean that Kennah found a way to release him. If that's the case, then I may need your help."
"My help?"
"You're his master, aren't you?"
Hlayma looked at him with a dumbstruck expression. "Kennah's master? You think I'm Kennah's master?"
"You seem to manage him pretty well, you know what to expect—"
"That's because I've been the head of his house guard for . . . longer than I can remember," Hlayma replied.
"Aren't you his master?" Hoozukimaru pressed.
"No," Hlayma insisted, sounding vaguely offended but more tickled with humor. "I'm surprised you would think that. No, no, my zanpakuto and I parted ways long ago. I haven't seen him since well before I came here."
The dragon peered at him, knowing he was speaking truthfully but not wanting to believe him. He also had the impression that he was not hearing the full truth. Yet, Hlayma was a man for whom he had developed great respect, even in the short time of their acquaintance; and he felt a degree of assurance having him at his side.
"I still want you to come with me," Hoozukimaru said. "You know this place. I need someone who knows the games, who knows the rules."
"I think we're way beyond the point of playing games, and there have never been any rules in the lower east," Hlayma stated. "But I'll go with you. It's probably best if you stay sealed in the sword until we get close. If Kennah does end up having use of his fourth wall, we don't want him to see you and me together. He'll think I'm in on the whole thing." A pause. "He probably thinks that already."
It hadn't taken them long to cross the land on horseback. Hlayma was a master horseman, and his mount was so attuned to him that they moved as one with little more than a thought to separate them. Coming to the wall that marked the perimeter of the canyons, they came upon another horse – one unfamiliar to them but nonetheless placid.
Hlayma dismounted. "How do you suppose he got out here?"
Hoozukimaru materialized. "Because he's not the only one out here. Come on. We're close."
()()()()
"I don't understand this," Yiowue snarled. "I think—I think you're holding it back on purpose."
Ruri'iro Kujaku simply regarded him with dull inconsequence. "You are blaming me for your own inability? I assure you, I have no interest in holding onto something that is of no consequence to me."
"But then why can't I draw it out? I've said the incantations correctly. I was able to free you from your master's bondage. Why am I unable to do this?"
Yiowue had been trying for the better part of an hour to draw out the demon. Reciting over and over again the incantation that should have allowed him access to an Atmen's store of energy – for that was where he believed the demon had to be, and indeed he had come so close to pulling it loose, had seen its swirling blackness coalesce into cloud – only to be snatched back at the last moment.
Yiowue couldn't help shake the feeling that he was being toyed with.
"Maybe you don't have the power," Ruri'iro Kujaku suggested.
Yiowue bristled at this statement. "If I didn't have the power, you'd still be trapped inside your master's soul." He fell silent, and a shrewd, calculating look came into his eye. "Or maybe I'm going about this the wrong way." He his hands out at waist length, shoulder-width apart, palms up.
And he began to chant.
A different incantation.
It was a long-forgotten language, and yet Ruri'iro Kujaku knew it intrinsically.
"Iron to steel. Forged to contain the very breath of life.
Fire inured. Soul infused.
Netousho gives way.
Ruri'iro Kujaku is assumed.
Particles of being.
Form and reform.
Form and reform.
Form and reform.
Bring forth the dwelling place!"
Something in these words set Ruri'iro Kujaku's nerves on end, and when he saw the glowing ball taking shape between Yiowue's hands and then stretching out into the length of a sword, he knew exactly what was happening.
"Why—why are you creating a sword?" he demanded, taking a step back.
Yiowue ignored him and continued to focus his attention on the object forming in his hands. As the glow died down, it revealed a blade of simple perfection – not at all what one would expect of the one for which it was intended.
"Why have you created that?" the peacock repeated.
Yiowue grinned. "You know what it is, then."
"I know what it is," Ruri'iro Kujaku scowled. "But it serves no purpose now. I'm no longer a zanpakuto. I will never go back to being a zanpakuto."
Yiowue chuckled. "You'll always be a zanpakuto. The Soul King wants it that way. But you don't have to go into the sword. You can oppose it. How do you think Kennah and Nelphune and Forquet and Currier grew so powerful? They refused to be subjugated." He took an insidious step forward. "And no one knew how to put them back into their swords. Over the centuries, that skill was lost, and only now . . . only now am I here to bring it back."
"What are you talking about? If my master could imprison me in his soul, what fear should I have of being imprisoned in a sword?"
"You misunderstand me," Yiowue said, his voice dulcet and yet false. "I don't want to imprison you. I want to protect you. I need more time to draw my child free, but if you're attacked and destroyed, then—"
"Who would attack and destroy me?"
"Kennah, of course."
"Who is this 'Kennah' you're speaking of?"
Yiowue wasn't sure what to make of Ruri'iro Kujaku's ignorance. "He's the most dangerous soul in all of Soul Society."
"Why should he want to destroy me?"
Yiowue's frustration broke through again and he began heatedly, "Because he's an—"
Before he could finish his statement, the ground began to shake.
Ruri'iro Kujaku teetered where he stood as the earth split open behind him.
Yiowue was collected and in control of his wits. This was his chance – while the peacock was distracted.
"Seal in this metal. Seal in this blade.
Bind unto my command.
Seventh Choir. Second Chair.
Bind unto my command.
Netou—"
The canyon wall above them cracked and came plummeting down.
An odd thought occurred to Ruri'iro Kujaku, that he had not played his hand very well.
And now it was too late. He could not get out of the way in time.
He was not sure, at first, of what happened next.
A reddish-brown blur flashed before him, and suddenly he was looking at Yiowue flying through the air towards the foot of the canyon wall, just below where the upper cliffs were breaking loose. The next thing he knew, he was caught breathless around the waist, and in a moment, he found himself face-down on the ground, a tremendous weight on his back – not the weight of rocks and sand. No, this weight was warm and breathing and moving.
And, dare he permit himself to believe it . . . familiar.
The weight subsided, and as he turned, a pair of strong arms pulled him to his feet.
"Flashy?"
Through the still swirling dust and debris, Ruri'iro Kujaku could only make out a hazy figure towering above him; but that was no impediment to his recognition. This encounter was not one he had expected – not so soon, to be sure. And he had no idea how to react, so he stood there speechless and flabbergasted.
"Flashy?" Now, the figure's face was visible. A face not in the least attractive, yet compelling and honest, which lent the animal-like features their own peculiar beauty—not a physical beauty, but that of the soul.
When Ruri'iro Kujaku gave no answer, Hoozukimaru reached out and drew him into a rough embrace, gentleness not comprising any significant part of his being. Yet, there was no questioning his compassion and concern.
At that instant, feeling himself enclosed within the safest arms he'd ever known, the Azure Peacock pressed deeper into the embrace as a flood of emotions and recollections broke from the carefully maintained levees he had constructed as a defense against Yiowue's attempts to access his inner world.
He shed no tears. Not even a sigh. What he felt was too deep to convey. Besides . . . Hoozukimaru would know what he was feeling without words or expression. The dragon had always understood him better than he'd understood himself.
The silence grew around them as the dust settled. Neither being moved. Ruri'iro Kujaku forgot, for many seconds, just what his situation was. All that was real at that moment was the warmth surrounding him, the sense of being protected by a creature that would have given his life for him.
Hoozukimaru would have been content to sweep away with him from that place at that moment, abandoning the rest of the mission. As far as he was concerned, all that mattered was now safely in his possession, and the critical task was to get Ruri'iro Kujaku away from the dangers of the lower east as quickly as possible. For the dragon could feel how thin the threads of spirit energy were that emanated from the peacock. He was at great risk here, and until his strength and reserves of energy were restored, he had little with which to defend himself.
Yet, the dragon knew he could never desert the mission which he had given his word to carry out. The purpose had never been to rescue Ruri'iro Kujaku, to begin with. It had been to rescue Yumichika – Little Pretty – and he would uphold his vow to do so. And he knew Ruri'iro Kujaku was unlikely to leave without his master.
At length, the dragon spoke quietly. "Are you injured? Did he hurt you?"
The sound of that voice—filled with genuine concern, so at odds with the fierce appearance of its owner—sent a flutter through Ruri'iro Kujaku's entire body.
"He didn't hurt me," came the murmured response, an indication that he was not ready or interested in speaking yet. He wanted only to experience that which he had not felt in over thirty years . . . the love and devotion of a simple being.
From slightly below and behind Hoozukimaru, Captain Hlayma regarded the scene before him; and he knew he was seeing something amazing. Without the benefit of having known either of the two spirits for any length of time – and certainly, not knowing Ruri'iro Kujaku at all – he would have to have been as cold and dead as stone not to be able to discern a love between these beings that surpassed any idea of human love.
He had always known such love exited. He had known such love himself, first-hand; but that had been long ago . . . so much had changed since then. Yet, he knew now that what he was witnessing was something more enduring, something that almost seemed to have the imprint of the great creator upon it. Was this a reflection of the type of love that reigned beyond the confines of the living world, beyond Soul Society, even beyond the Soul King's realm?
The scene stirred a nostalgic longing within him; and yet, in a strange way, he felt sated, comforted . . . at peace. No matter what happened now, he did not fear the outcome. He still hoped for and desired success; but an inner calm had spread through his soul – all because of what he was seeing before him now.
He watched as Ruri'iro Kujaku finally raised his head to look into the dragon's eyes. What passed between them in that first moment of eye-to-eye contact? What unspoken understandings passed between them? What silent words had they communicated?
Whatever sentiments might have been exchanged, another period of prolonged silence followed as Ruri'iro Kujaku leaned his cheek against Hoozukimaru's breast. Then it seemed a point had been reached without words, and the two creatures emerged from their private reverie into the moment.
Ruri'iro Kujaku turned and looked at the pile of fallen rubble.
"Yiowue?" he asked.
"Somewhere under there," Hoozukimaru answered. "What was he trying to do to you?"
"He wanted to draw the demon out," the peacock replied. "He's the reincarnation of Heykibi."
"What?"
"He's been planning this ever since the demon was defeated. He wanted to reclaim it. He learned the incantations used to control the Atmen. I had to pretend that I didn't remember anything. I had to buy time for my strength to return." He looked almost ashamed. "But one thing I'd truly forgotten . . . forgotten for so many centuries . . . I'd forgotten I was an Atmen until . . . until they started trying to find me. Bits and pieces of it started to come back to me. They did terrible things to my master trying to get to me." He paused and looked anxiously at Hoozukimaru. "We have to rescue Yumichika. He's still in the cave."
Hoozukimaru gave a nod then looked him up and down once with wry scrutiny. "You, uh, you have the power yet to . . . put some cloths on? Or something? I don't think it's a good idea to run around naked, considering what we're up against."
Ruri'iro looked down at his exposed body. Not even the downy underlayer of feathers had begun to form on his arms and legs yet. He was in his most basic form. "I don't have the power yet to clothe myself. I used what little power I had regained trying to keep Heykibi from pulling the demon out of me. Believe me, it was a struggle."
"Well, I've—"
"All you've got is a loin cloth," the peacock protested before Hoozukimaru could even finish his sentence. "Better for you to keep that. If it's a question of my nakedness or yours, well . . . of course, mine is preferable."
"Use this."
Only then did Ruri'iro Kujaku notice there was someone else with them. Turning towards the voice, he saw a man holding out a fine cloak, the color of sand.
"This is Captain Hlayma," Hoozukimaru introduced.
Hlayma nodded and pressed a step closer with the cloak. "Here, take it."
Ruri'iro Kujaku accepted the garment. "Thank you." He then proceeded to leave both the captain and Hoozukimaru speechless by winding the cloak around his waist so that it hung like a swaddling cloth.
"Uh, you don't want to wear it over your shoulders?" Hlayma asked.
It was Hoozukimaru who answered with a simper. "Obviously, you know nothing about him."
()()()()()
They had come to the cave entrance, only to find it blocked.
Ruri'iro Kujaku eagerly began his absorption of the spirit particles, which seemed to him like a feast, even with particles feeble as those found in seki-seki rock. Still, in his weakened state, the energy needed to absorb the particles was enough to exhaust him. He needed to be cautious and not exert himself beyond his ability, not exert more energy than he was taking in.
Unable to enter his inner world, he did not know if Yumichika were even still alive, although his heart told him he was. The fact that he could not simply sense his master's presence was disconcerting, for it showed just how diminished his powers had grown.
As the peacock worked, Hoozukimaru noticed with interest that he was not using the vines to absorb the energy, as he always had in the past. No, here he was able to simply stretch out his hands and the spirit matter simply dissolved in the aura emanating from his hands.
Both Hoozukimaru and Hlayma lent their backs to removing what debris they could.
Hlayma gave voice to something that no one had mentioned yet.
"Yumichika's being out here means the whole plan is out the window," he said, but he didn't sound frightened or even agitated. He was thoughtful, already rewiring the scheme. "I didn't see Dunkip anywhere, so we'll have to assume he can't be any help to us. But the others who are waiting at the rendez-vous points . . . they're going to get nervous when none of the scheduled meetings take place on time. We have to find a way to get word to them that we're running behind."
"I can go to my inner world and tell my master," Hoozukimaru said. "I don't know how we can let the others know."
Hlayma addressed Ruri'iro Kujaku. "Are you sure you can't go to your inner world? You could use the fourth wall to let the other zanpakuto know of the change in plans."
"I can't enter," Ruri'iro answered. "I destroyed my shrine. I have no way to go back. I've been trying since Heykibi released me." He stopped suddenly. "Look, an opening!"
Hoozukimaru looked up at the tiny crevice that had opened up in the wall of fallen rock. He scampered up the debris to see if he could get a look inside.
"Can you see anything? Get closer!" Ruri'iro Kujaku demanded.
"Do you really expect me to be able to fit through there? I'm not a pole, ya know?" Hoozukimaru protested.
"Yes, I see you didn't pine away into nothing during my absence. Give me a minute or two. I'm out of practice . . . and still very weak, I'll have you know. Why, I might faint if you don't stop badgering me."
Almost immediately, he heard his master's voice.
"Ruri'iro Kujaku!"
An incredible joy filled his heart, for the first thing he noticed was . . .
. . . the use of his real name, with no regard for who might be within hearing.
